Abstract
Objective
Young people are a relatively underrepresented group in literature on poor vision
and blindness. This study assessed the quality of life and function of young people
who have poor vision or blindness by asking directly about their personal experiences.
Methods
A modified version of the VFQ-25 was administered to 47 students at a school for blind
youth. All students who received the test had visual acuity scores of 20/100 or worse.
The VFQ-25 scoring system was used, and results from additional qualitative questions
were themed and ranked. Further analysis was performed, using Spearman's rank correlation
coefficient to check for correlation between duration of blindness and VFQ score.
Results
Participants recorded a composite VFQ score of 65, showing that poor vision had a
self-perceived moderate effect on their daily function. Proportion of participant's
life spent with visual impairment correlated with higher composite scores. In general,
lower scores were reported by participants with worse visual acuity. However, variations
were observed in the mental health category.
Conclusions
Young people have a more optimistic and nuanced view of their function than expected
based on VFQ scores of other groups. Larger studies, particularly ones including youth
in non-specialized schools would be useful to expand these findings.
Résumé
Objectif
Les jeunes sont relativement sous-représentés dans les articles portant sur la basse
vision et la cécité. La présente étude visait à évaluer la qualité de vie et l’état
fonctionnel de sujets jeunes présentant une basse vision ou une cécité en les interrogeant
directement sur leur expérience personnelle.
Méthodes
On a fait passer une version modifiée du questionnaire VFQ-25 à 47 étudiants qui fréquentaient
une école pour jeunes aveugles. L'acuité visuelle de tous les répondants était de
20/100 ou pire. Le système de gradation du questionnaire VFQ-25 a été utilisé, et
les réponses aux questions qualitatives supplémentaires ont été regroupées par thème
et classées. On a procédé à une analyse plus approfondie en recourant au coefficient
de corrélation des rangs de Spearman afin de vérifier s'il existe une corrélation
entre l'ancienneté de la cécité et le score VFQ.
Résultats
Les participants ont obtenu un score VFQ composite de 65, ce qui permet de conclure
que la basse vision avait un effet modéré sur la façon dont ils percevaient leur fonctionnement
quotidien. On note une corrélation entre l'ancienneté du trouble visuel et l'obtention
de scores composites plus élevés. En règle générale, les participants qui présentaient
la pire acuité visuelle ont obtenu des scores plus faibles. Cela dit, des variations
ont été observées au chapitre de la santé mentale.
Conclusions
Les jeunes ont une perception plus optimiste et nuancée de leur état fonctionnel que
ce à quoi on se serait attendu compte tenu des scores VFQ obtenus chez d'autres groupes.
Des études de plus grande envergure, notamment auprès de jeunes qui fréquentent des
écoles non spécialisées, permettraient d'accroître nos connaissances à cet égard.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: June 27, 2019
Accepted:
April 30,
2019
Received in revised form:
April 18,
2019
Received:
January 14,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Canadian Ophthalmological Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
